Rohan MathawanOne of the key issues some players can often have within the iGaming market is trustworthy game results. However, the operators, aggregators providing the software platforms, and the game developers have been tackling this issue of ‘trust’ for many years with remarkable success thanks to algorithmic technology.
As an iGaming provider, the mission to guarantee players within the iGaming industry that the virtual games they provide produce fair and random results every deal of the cards, and spin of the reels is one that is unavoidable, but one that also comes with a simple technological solution used by all computer games.
Complex Mathematical Algorithm Technology
To achieve 100% fair results, casino games use complex mathematical strings of code. These algorithms are now worth millions if not billions of pounds, and they are now so advanced that they have the full backing of multiple gambling licensing authorities.
What’s more is that the licensing authorities involved in certifying these algorithms are not interested in helping casinos or betting firms, and instead they are there to protect players.
For example, the UKGC (UK Gambling Commission) is a UK government funded organisation that ensures any company offering gambling services provides UK players a fair deal at every level. Financial rules, IT security rules following the 10-steps-to-cyber-security, and very importantly regular third-party checks are carried out to ensure iGaming firms offer game results with the utmost integrity via their algorithms used to produce random game results.
The 2 pieces of technology used today in the iGaming industry are the RNG (Random Number Generator) and the Provably Fair algorithm (Cryptocurrency).
RNG (Random Number Generators)
The RNG algorithm operates on virtual slots and table games that accept fiat currency bets, i.e. bets using UK£, EU€, or CA$. These algorithms are complex pieces of code impossible to crack even with sophisticated decoders.
They apply to real money games, free demo games using play money, when using free spins with no deposit required, and when you use welcome or regular bonus money awarded by the website offering iGaming services.
RNGs use what is known as a constant shuffle. For instance, if you play an online slot, the RNG assigned to that slot will have millions of potential reel combinations running in a constant shuffle with 100s of hands per millisecond running through an indicator.
When you press the ‘spin’ button on a slot, the algorithm stops and the combination on the indicator is the result you will receive on the reels. In fact, the reels do not need to spin, however, they do because this is all part of the fun!
Provably Fair Algorithms
This algorithm comes into action on cryptocurrency games and is very popular with Bitcoin Casinos. Every bet is logged onto a public ledger on the cryptocurrency’s ecosystem.
It is worth noting that the Provably Fair algorithm is not used for free play games, which always revert back to the RNG tech to produce results when using free money bets. As such, this algorithm only uses the public ledger when a real cryptocurrency bet is in action such as BTC, BCH, ETH, XRP, or USDT.
It is also very different from an RNG. Instead of using a ‘constant’ shuffle, the Provably Fair algorithm randomly summons a deck of cards or set of reel spins from a database that gold trillions of combinations. The results are encrypted and stored on the public ledger and only decrypted once the hand or reel spin is over.
Once decrypted, players can use special software to compare the game results with the results stored on the public ledger.
RNGs Vs Provably Fair Algorithm
As you have probably noticed, there is a marked difference between these 2 algorithms. RNGs use third-party testing companies to confirm results are fair while the Provably Fair algorithm puts the power into the hands of the player to perform these checks independently. However, both do a fine job offering players integral gaming results they can trust, which is why the iGaming industry is so popular today!